iTake You For Granted
by cameddie
Summary: A Christmas fic. Carly and Sam seem to take their friendship with Freddie more and more for granted. Can Mitch show them the error of their ways. Creddie, with Seddie-hugs. A lot of Freddie-awesomeness. Warning: Main character death in alternate reality.
1. The third wheel

**iTake You For Granted (Christmas-fic)**

**Freddie grows depressed when Carly and Sam seem to take their friendship to their tech-assistant for granted. Then Mitch shows up to Carly and Sam to show them the errors of their ways. Creddie, Seddie-Friendship, Fencer-Friendship. A lot of Freddie awesomeness :D. My first multi-chapter story on Fanfic. Don't worry I finished the fic.**

"Just keep walking," Spencer said while keeping his hands before Carly's eyes so she couldn't see where she was walking.

"Just show me the tree," Carly giggled.

"So you wanna see the tree?" Spencer asked with a high pitched voice. "Does little Carly Shay want to see the tree?"

"Yes, she does!" Carly answered.

"It's right in front of you," Spencer said. Carly used her hands to put Spencer's hands from her eyes. But when she saw the garbage tree, she put his hands right before her eyes again.

"What?" Spencer exclaimed while walking to the tree, "Don't you love it? You can't not love it. Don't you love it?"

"It's cool, but I thought we were getting a real Christmas tree this year," Carly complained.

"We were, but I was on my way for art supplies and then I got the idea to this!" Spencer explained. "It's a magna-tree!"

"Magna?" Carly asked confused.

"It's rigged with a dangerously large electro magnet," Spencer continued. Then Sam walked down the stairs. "Sam, check out our magnetic Christmas tree,"

"Naah," Sam sighed. "Carly and I were going to Build-a-Bra."

"Yep, that's right," Carly said, "We wanted some girl quality time, so we're leaving?"

"What about Freddie?" Spencer asked. "Is he okay that you leave him alone?"

"Yeah, I think he is," Carly said nonchalantly, "and he isn't alone, you're here," Sam and Carly walked to the door and left. Spencer walked to the kitchen, not really knowing why. Then Freddie came downstairs. He groaned somewhat. He looked around.

"Hey, where are Carly and Sam?" Freddie asked.

"They're to Build-a-Bra," Spencer said. "They said you were okay with that," Freddie groaned again. "I know, right," Spencer said, "but I don't think this is the right time to fence."

"It's not that," Freddie said and he took one of the stools at the kitchen table. "They said that I was okay with that they were going to Build-a-Bra?"

"You aren't?" Spencer asked.

"The never asked," Freddie sighed. Spencer seemed shocked from the unexpected answer Freddie gave. "You know, it sounds dumb, but sometimes I have the feeling that Sam and Carly don't really value our friendship. You know between Carly and me and between Sam and me." 

Spencer was not shocked anymore. He admitted to himself that Carly didn't treat Freddie very well lately, let alone Sam. Spencer rarely disagrees with his sister, but now he does.

"Am I a bad friend?" Freddie said.

"You think they don't value your friendship, you're still talking with and about them and you think you're a bad friend?" Spencer asked. "I don't think you're the bad friend here,"

"Don't talk that way about them okay!" Freddie almost snapped before lowering his voice which almost resulted in a voiceless whisper. "They're not bad friends, I think. They just want to have quality time with each other."

"Are you talking to me or to yourself?" Spencer asked, causing Freddie to shrug. "Hey," Freddie looked up. "You're sure you want to sleep here?"

"Hey, Carly and Sam aren't the only friends here," Freddie said. "Right?" 

"Right!" Spencer said.

"Spencer?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah Freddo," Spencer said.

"Can I tell you something?" Freddie asked. "About the iCarly earlier this day?"

"Sure," Spencer said. "If you feel like it."

"Thanks," Freddie said. He took a deep breath before starting his story. "Well we were preparing the next iCarly. Carly and Sam made up a poll about what I should wear during the iCarly, without asking me about it. I often told them that I don't really wanted to dress like a flashlight, but they didn't really listen. Carly kept saying "Please, for me," and Sam just punched me in the costume. Then when the iCarly was running I was about to do my Christmas wishes and then Sam pushed me away. Call me whiney, but I feel less and less a part of iCarly this way,"

"You're not whiney," Spencer said. "I don't think Carly and Sam treat you very well, I'll talk to Carly later and I'm sure if she'll understand that she'll talk to Sam, key?"

"Key," Freddie said. "Thanks,"

"Anytime,"

Spencer didn't really got the right time to talk to Carly the entire night as she spent the whole day with Sam and later with Sam and Freddie. They didn't seem to notice that Freddie was a little down. Freddie was very loyal to his friends, no matter how he felt. Perhaps he was a little too loyal to them.

Before they were aware of it, Sam, Carly, Freddie and Spencer were lying in their bed, Carly and Sam in Carly's room and Freddie and Spencer in Spencer's.

"I can't sleep," Sam said after an hour.

"Me neither," Carly said. "You know what I do when I can't sleep?"

"What do you do when you can't sleep?" Sam asked in the same tone.

"I go to the studio to sit in the beanbags," Carly said.

"Let's do it," Sam said and they took off to the studio. The studio was dark and they decided to keep it that way. 

"So you decided to come after all," a male voice was noticeable. Carly startled and ran to the light switch to turn the light on. A small figure walked from the stage to Carly and Sam.

"What are you doing here?" Carly asked scared. "And who are you?"

"And mind your words, I enjoy abuse little things like you," Sam added less frightened then Carly but still frightened.

"I am here to show the error of your ways and my name's Mitch," Sam heard enough and she tried to tackle Mitch. She failed. Mitch suddenly disappeared and appeared right behind Carly. "Not so rude,"

"I'm calling the cops," Carly said. Carly dialed a number but heard a ringtone in Mitch's pocket. He pulled out a cellphone. "Spencer then," she dialed a number again, but again Mitch's cellphone went off.

"I'm outta here," Sam said and she walked to the door and opened it… tried to open it. The door felt like it was locked. "Did you lock the door?" she asked to Carly.

"I did," Mitch answered. "It's time we made a little trip. Take my hand,"

"No!" Carly said, "There's more than one way out you know?" Carly ran to the elevator and pushed the button, to no avail.

"The elevator isn't working," Mitch said. "The only way out is me," he said menacingly. "Now, take my hand."

"No," Carly said.

"You can stay here 'til the end of Christmas," Mitch replied. Reluctantly Carly gave Mitch her hand. Sam walked to the two and took Mitch's other hand. "Now let's show you something," the studio blurred away…


	2. iDunno

**Thanks for the great reviews :D. Oh I forgot the previous chapter, but iCarly is not mine. It's Dan Schneider's.**

…and suddenly they were in the Shay kitchen. Carly and Sam saw their thirteen year old versions of themselves at the kitchen table discussing about the talent show they filmed that day.

"Hey, that's us," Sam said.

"Yeah, this is where iCarly was born," Carly said, "but wasn't Freddie there too?"

"This is an alternate reality," Mitch explained. "I want to show you something about your best male friend, Freddie,"

"Freddie isn't my best male friend!" Sam replied offended.

"Then who is?" Mitch said and got Sam silenced. "As I said I wanted to show you something about Freddie and the best way to show you something about him is showing you what would have happened if he wasn't there when he used to be there. In this reality Freddie never was your friend, he was nothing more to you than a dorky kid at school and you were nothing more than gossiping girls. He wasn't even in love with Carly"

"We aren't gossiping girls," Carly said offended.

"And who knows?" Mitch said. "Freddie doesn't, let's watch the show and of course they can't hear or see you."

"Hey Sam, do you remember what those people said on the message boards?" younger Carly asked to her friend.

"Yeah," Sam replied while cutting through a ham with a knife.

"Stuff like you guys should upload more videos or when is the next show and we want more?"

"How did we know about these comments?" Carly asked to Mitch. "Freddie told us about it,"

"Your peers told you, including Freddie," Mitch replied. They kept watching 'the show'

"Let's give 'em more," younger Carly said with a smirk on her face.

"Okay, what are we talking about here?" Sam asked confused.

"Doing a web show! Online! Every week!" Carly explained.

"Why?" Sam demanded for more explanation.

"Because," Carly started her explanation. "It could be want we want it to be. No adults who say "You can't do this", "You can't do that,", we can do whatever we want, say whatever we want,"

"You say we gotta do work… and stuff," Sam said.

"Yep, you were," Carly chuckled.

"When you're gonna do a show, you got to prepare for it," younger Carly said.

"Then we're gonna make it your show," Sam said. "You do the work and I'll be your amusing little sidekick. So what is the web show gonna be about?"

"Anything," Carly said. "Something different every week, but for the first show: Kids with bizarre taletns,"

"Ahh, clever," Sam pointed out, "Miss Briggs says nonono, we say yeahyeahyeah,"

"So how should we call our show?" Carly said.

"I dunno," Sam said.

"Well," Carly said. "That might not be a bad idea, iDunno."

"What?" Present Sam said, "iDunno? What about iCarly?"

"Freddie came up with the name, remember?" Carly said.

"Yes," Sam said annoyed, "all because of that puppy love of him," Sam said while rolling her eyes.

"But who's gonna film us," Past Carly said.

"We just hire some idiots from the AV club, like the one across the hallway," Past Sam said.

"Freddie?" Carly said.

"Yeah, that one," Sam replied.

"Well that's it for now," Mitch said, "It's time for a little time travelin'" The kitchen suddenly disappeared.

They were in the studio this time. The first thing Carly and Sam looked for was the Freddie's tech cart. And yes, it was there.

"So, he kept doing iCarly?" Sam asked. "I mean iDunno,"

"Yes, he did," Mitch said, "but you hired him. You paid him twenty bucks, you promised not to wedgie him for a week or Carly had to go to the dance with him,"

"But you said he wasn't in love with me," Carly said.

"True, which made him less a gentleman," Mitch said. "You were nothing more than a status symbol to him."

"That's not Freddie!" Carly exclaimed.

"The Freddie you know is the Freddie you know because he hung out with you and he knew you, because he wanted to know you" Mitch looked to both girls, before looking away and making distance between him and the girls. "Every being is formed by its environment. You're you because of each other, because of Spencer, Gibby, Miss Briggs, but most of all because of Freddie."

"Why Freddie?" Sam asked.

"Just give it a thought," Mitch winked. "Let's continue the show,"

"I want to start with an impression of a cat in a dishwasher," a young female voice emerged from the elevator.

"I told you we were starting with Mexican juggler," another voice presented herself. The elevator opened itself and the two girls came out bickering. Freddie was just putting stuff together.

"Ready in thirty seconds," Freddie said. The girls started to bicker, but unlike the real reality the Freddie in this reality didn't seem to mind. "Fifteen seconds," he said. "Ten seconds," the girls continued bickering. "In five, four, three, two…"

The girls suddenly made up a smile again and started the show, but soon continued bickering, because they couldn't make up their minds about the first video or segment. Freddie took a chair and lifted the camera, waiting for the show to end. The show ended prematurely, because Carly and Sam stormed off fighting again. Freddie turned off the camera and went behind the girls.

"Hey," Freddie said. "Payment!"

"He's such a jerk," Present Carly said.

"What'd you say if we go to the present?" Mitch asked.

"Please," Sam and Carly said, both with a disgusted voice, hoping that their nightmare came to an end. The studio disappeared…

…and appeared back again. But Carly's and Sam's hearts dropped when they saw the terrible state of the studio. It was dark. There were webs everywhere, the tech cart was gone and everything what could be broken was broken.

"What happened?" Carly asked.

"Nothing," Mitch said, "that's exactly what happened. We're still in an alternative reality," this relieved Carly and Sam somehow. "In the real reality Freddie stopped you from bickering by yanking your ponytails and putting a poll on the internet. That's what saved your friendship. In this reality he didn't. The iDunno you saw was the very last. You two split and you were never able to look in each other's eyes for at least fifteen years. Both of you were depressed at first but Carly came over it after a couple of months. Sam moved to Las Vegas as soon as possible and came over it eventually. Carly becomes a teacher at a high school. She at her thirtieth year, she already married twice and she divorced twice. Sam and Freddie had respectively boy-and girlfriends, but neither of them made it longer than two years. Then there was a reunion…"

The studio dissolved again…


	3. iNever Saw You Again

…and the three were standing in Sam and Carly's school.

"This is Ridgeway," Carly whispered.

"I know, right?" Sam said. They saw how an older version of Carly and Sam met each other.

"Hey," Future Carly said awkwardly.

"'sup," Future Sam replied not less awkward.

"Nothing," Future Carly said.

"Good," Future Sam replied. "Keep it that way," Future Sam said and she went ahead.

"That's everything?" Present Carly asked.

"Yeah," Mitch said with a painful smirk, "there isn't much to show. You would never saw each other again."

"What about Freddie?" Sam asked.

"Freddie…" Mitch went silent for a moment. "Freddie isn't anymore. He… had an accident with his motorcycle. He was drunk while driving his motorcycle. He died immediately after the accident. Carly would marry three more times, but neither of her five husbands made her happy. You would die lonely. Sam met her real love when she almost lost her hope. She was almost fifty when she married, but besides her husband she didn't have any close friends in her entire life."

"Is this the end of what you was about to show us?" Carly asked.

"Not yet, there's one more thing I would like to show you," Mitch said. "Something that really happened." Ridgeway disappeared again…

…and Sam, Carly and Mitch were standing in the kitchen. Spencer was at the kitchen table. Carly and Sam didn't see their counterparts this time.

"We're still invisible right?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Mitch said. Sam nodded

_Freddie came downstairs. He groaned somewhat. He looked around._

Carly and Sam how badly hurt Freddie looked.

_"Hey, where are Carly and Sam?" Freddie asked._

"They're to Build-a-Bra," Spencer said. "They said you were okay with that," Freddie groaned again. "I know, right," Spencer said, "but I don't think this is the right time to fence."

"It's not that," Freddie said and he took one of the stools at the kitchen table. "They said that I was okay with that they were going to Build-a-Bra?"

"You aren't?" Spencer asked.

"_The never asked," Freddie sighed. Spencer startled from the unexpected answer Freddie gave. "You know, it sounds dumb, but sometimes I have the feeling that Sam and Carly don't really value our friendship. You know between Carly and me and between Sam and me."  
_

"_I don't know if I have to say this," Spencer said. "But I have the impression that you're right. Carly didn't really seem concerned about your feelings, let alone Sam."_

"Am I a bad friend?" Freddie said.

"No Freddie, you aren't" Carly said, but she realized that neither Freddie nor Spencer could hear her. Carly almost felt her heart sink. **He **thought that **he** was a bad friend? __

"You think they don't value your friendship, you're still talking with and about them and you think you're a bad friend?" Spencer asked. "I don't think you're the bad friend here,"

Carly could not believe what Spencer said about her. Spencer never talked that negatively about Sam and herself. But she saw that Spencer was really concerned about Freddie. And the worst part was that he was right. Carly has been a bad friend.

Not knowing about Carly's feelings, Sam almost felt the same way. He never felt any compassion to Freddie, but when Spencer takes Freddie's side instead of his own sister's things were getting really serious. The girls noticed that their eyes were burning and they also noticed tears in each other's eyes.__

"Don't talk that way about them, okay!" Freddie snapped, before lowering his voice which almost resulted in a voiceless whisper. "They're not bad friends, I think. They just want to have quality time with each other."

Carly and Sam felt if possible even worse after this. After all those things they have done to Freddie he keeps defending them. Sam and Carly couldn't see anymore. Their knees collapsed to the ground and they buried their faces in their hands, crying about how terrible they treated their friend, if they still were his friend, if he still wanted to be their friend.

Without noticing the scene changed again…

… and Mitch, Carly and Sam were in the studio again, like it was before Mitch took them at the emotional tour.

"Now," Mitch said. "That was it," he took a bean bag and sat in it. He saw how Carly and Sam were still on their knees with their head in their hands, crying bitter tears

"We were terrible friends," Carly said drying her tears.

"I'm so sorry," Sam said.

"I'm not the one you should tell that," Mitch said and Carly and Sam knew immediately what he was talking about. "There is only one thing I want to give you right now, a word of advice. Sam," Sam sat on the beanbag next to Mitch. "Savor your friendships, you will need them and they will need you. Never let go of your friends, no matter how bad you've treated them in the past. You can change and your friends can change as well. Feelings of blame pass away faster than feelings of guilt. Savor your friendships."

"Thanks, Mitch," Sam smiled through her sobs, "I will," Mitch gestured to Carly. Sam gave Carly a short but tight hug.

"Carly," Mitch said and Carly went to the same beanbag where Sam sat on first. "You just saw how awful your life would be without Freddie. You love him and by not telling him you torture both him and yourself. You're afraid to risk your friendship by admitting your love to him, but you just saw that you could easily lose a friend and never speak him or her again while you never had a romantic relationship. If I say Freddie what is the first word popping in your mind?"

"Loyalty," Carly answered.

"Exactly," Mitch pointed out. "You've seen once more how loyal Freddie is, he'll never allow himself to get you hurt."

"I don't deserve him," Carly sighed.

"That may be true," Mitch said. "But doesn't he deserve you?"

Carly nodded, "Yes," she took a deep breath, "Yes, he does."

"Well," Mitch said. "I don't want to force you to love Freddie. You're the one who knows best what the best you can do is."

"Thanks Mitch," Carly said.

"You're going to apologize to Freddie, right?" Mitch asked to both Carly and Sam. They nodded both. "Let's Sam go first," Mitch whispered to Carly, "You might need more time," he gave Carly a wink and disappeared suddenly.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"You'll notice soon enough," Carly said. "We know what to do. We should get some sleep first,"

**I think that the advice that Mitch gave to Sam, is pretty much for everybody. Savor your friendships ;). Only one chapter left. Thanks everyone for the nice reviews. Merry Christmas. GBY**


	4. The best Christmas ever

The two went asleep in the studio. Sam woke up first. She decided to keep Carly asleep for a while and go downstairs alone. She walked down the stairs and noticed that Spencer was there already.

"Hey," Spencer said.

"Hey," Sam replied. "Where's Freddie?"

"He is still on his bed," Spencer said.

"Still asleep?" Sam asked.

"He hasn't slept much last night," Spencer said, "he is awake,"

"I want to see him," Sam said. "Got to tell him something,"

"Okay, but you clean up the mess, okay?" Spencer asked.

"I'm going to talk to him," Sam said. "I'm not going to kill him," she walked in Spencer's room and saw that Freddie was hiding under his blanket. She sat on his bed, careful not to sit on him and waited for him to respond. She heard a groan, the blanket moved and a tired Freddie took his head out of the blanket. He murmured something, before saying her name.

"Sam?" Freddie said and he began to sit on his bed. "Please, don't beat me up," he said, but he didn't look afraid or something. He slept with a shirt last night as it was pretty cold in Spencer's room.

"Don't worry, Fredward," Sam said and her voice almost sounded friendly. "I'm here to apologize,"

"Apologize?" Freddie said. "You? For What?"

"Well," Sam took a deep breath. "I haven't been, you know, the ideal friend the last couple of days."

"You think I'm a friend," Freddie said and his expression told Sam that he was both flattered and confused.

"You have been a friend to me," Sam said. "Even when I wasn't one to you. You remember when you saved my friendship with iCarly? When you gave that ticket to Missy? You're a greater pal, then I have ever gave you credit for," Sam let her tears go. She was pathetic after all, by apologizing (to Freddie for crying out loud) so crying won't make things much worse.

"You're crying?" Freddie said and Sam noticed how wrong she was.

"I think I am," Sam said.

"Am I the dork again, which makes you emotional?" Freddie asked with a smirk.

"Kinda," Sam said as she smiled through her tears.

"Hey Sam," Freddie said. "I think it's good that you at least think that I'm your friend. I always thought you hated me,"

"I do," Sam said. "Sometimes, but I hate Carly sometimes as well, but I can't punch her. That's why you get the double trouble," Freddie smiled and suppressed a chuckle. He stood up and walked to the window and let a small laughter go.

"I would have it no other way," Freddie said.

"Don't you want me to back off," Sam said.

"Sometimes," Freddie said. "But if you apologize sometimes and you watch your words more carefully, you can just make my life miserable once in a while. I think I would miss you if you didn't,"

"Why watch my words?" Sam asked.

"You hurt me a lot of times physically," Freddie said. "But those wounds pass. Words hurt much worse, and some of them may never pass away," he turned to Sam again. Sam noticed the seriousness in Freddie's emotion and voice. Sam nodded in agreement. She let go another tear, walked to Freddie and hugged him tight.

"I'm so sorry," Sam said. "I'll never take your friendship for granted ever again,"

"You'd better not…" Freddie said and his voice faded away. Freddie became heavier on Sam's shoulder. Sam looked aside and saw that Freddie was sleeping. She smiled. She had her friend back. And if she hadn't she just got herself a new friend. Sam reached for Freddie's legs and laid him on his bed.

"Sleep well, nub," she said while messing with his hair. She left the room and closed the door softly. She noticed that Carly was up already and that she was heading to Spencer's room. "Wait a while. He's asleep."

"Kay," Carly said and she popped on the couch. "I feel so guilty," Sam sat next her.

"I know," she whispered. "Carly, do you love him?"

"Yeah, of course," Carly said, "he's my best friend," Sam looked at her like she knew she was hiding something, "you're also my best friend," but both of them knew that was not what Sam was talking about. Carly got a you-know-that's-not-what-I/she-mean(s)-look from both Sam and Spencer. "Yes, I love him that way," Carly surrendered. "He loves me too. I made him believe that I was afraid that a romantic relationship could ruin our friendship. But it's like I just realized that not having one might ruin our friendship as well,"

It took an hour before anyone said anything. Freddie came with a dazed head out of Spencer's room.

"Freddie!" Carly exclaimed.

"Slept well?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Freddie said. "Sorry about that,"

"No problem," Sam answered.

"Freddie," Carly tried to gain Freddie's attention. "I need to talk to you, alone,"

"How about the hallway?" Freddie asked.

"Why?" Carly said.

"Well, there are couches, beanbags and beds all over you apartment," Freddie said. "I might fall asleep again," Carly and Sam chuckled. "And it's neutral terrain,"

"Good point," Carly said and opened the door to the hallway, Freddie followed her out and they both sat on the ground against the wall. Carly sat next her door and Freddie next to his.

"So where do you want to talk about?" Freddie asked.

"I'm sorry," Carly said. "I'm sorry I treated you as a tool. I'm sorry I took you for granted. I'm sorry I never asked how you feel. I'm sorry I've never been grateful for what you've done for iCarly. I'm sorry I've never been grateful for being there for me,"

"I'm sorry you've been stuck with me all those years," Freddie replied. "I should have known when to stop flirting with you. I've been whiney about it."

"No," Carly said. "You shouldn't be sorry. I should be. I treated you terrible. I used your feelings to get things fixed for me, even when you didn't want to. I treated you even worse than Sam treats you. I hurt you more than she did. I hurt you emotionally. I made you have sleepless nights. But Freddie, without you I can't be happy."

"Where did that come from?" Freddie asked.

"I had a weird dream and I saw what life would look like if you weren't who you were," Carly said. "It was terrible, maybe it was the worst nightmare I've ever had and for once I couldn't snap out of it. I guess Sam had the same dream. I don't want that dream become reality"

"Apologies accepted," Freddie said plainly, but then he smirked. Carly smiled. They both stood up at the same time.

"Thanks," Carly said. "Where did I deserve you?"

"I don't know," Freddie said a little cocky. Carly smirked and caught Freddie in a tight hug. When their cheeks touch, Freddie could feel a tear sliding from Carly's eye to his cheek. This made him cry a little too. "You want to my friend again?" Freddie asked. Carly released him and shook her head.

"No," she saw Freddie's confused and hurt face. "If you still want me," she waited a moment while standing on the ground. _I don't deserve him, _she told herself, _but he does deserve me. _Carly pushed Freddie against the wall and took full assault at his lips. Freddie was confused at first, but quickly recovered by kissing her back, and then she retreated. "If you still want me," she repeated. "I want to be your girlfriend, but if you don't want to, than maybe-" Freddie smirked and kissed Carly back to interrupt her. "You still want me?" Carly asked.

"Haven't I answered your question yet?" he asked playfully and he kissed her once more this time longer and with more passion and joy. He hugged her once more and reached with his mouth for her ear. "You know?" Freddie said. "This might be the greatest Christmas ever."

"This is the best Christmas ever," Carly replied and she laid her head on Freddie's shoulder.

**That's all folks! I want to thank sockstar, jackpotdante, LanternFan, sweetStarre123, azngrl123, Invader Johnny and mrmuscle for their nice comments. I really enjoyed writing this story. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much although I know it's almost impossible ;P. Merry Christmas Everybody!**


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